Dan Gheesling reacts to being 'shredded' by Phaedra on The Traitors

Dan Gheesling is one of the most feared and accomplished competitive reality TV contestants ever. His first season playing Big Brother is considered by many fans to be the best performance in franchise history, and in his second outing, he once again made it all the way to end after coming back from the dead in one of the most iconic moves ever.

However, Dan met his match not once, but twice on The Traitors. While the Big Brother legend was able to disperse his trademark Mist to somehow escape being banished through five episodes, he finally came up against a worthy foe in the form of a former Bachelor.

Peter Weber concocted a brilliant scheme where he told Dan, Parvati Shallow, and Chris "CT" Tamburello that he had won the immunity-granting shield. But it was a lie. Instead, it was Carsten "Bergie" Bergensen and Trishelle Cannatella who actually had the shield protecting him as well. That way, if the Traitors then murdered Bergie mistakenly believing he did not have safety, it would out at least one of Dan, Parvati, and CT as a Traitor.

Even though Parvati saw through the ruse, Dan insisted on taking a shot at Bergie. When Bergie appeared as the breakfast the next morning with his shield, the jig was up for Dan — who had fallen right into the trap.

Dan then attempted at the roundtable to shift the target to fellow Traitor Phaedra Parks — insisting that her vote for Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu was suspicious and that her reaction to Marcus Jordan's elimination had seemed fake. (It was.) But the Real Housewife came firing back hard at the Big Brother champ. ("She shredded me tonight at the roundtable," Dan said on the show after his ouster.)

In the end, Dan was the first Traitor unmasked in the game, and his banishment would have been unanimous had Peter not thrown one stray vote at Parvati to keep the heat on her for the next roundtable. What does Dan make of falling into Peter's trap? Was he surprised by the beatdown Phaedra delivered at the roundtable? Why is Jonny Bananas so obsessed with him? And does he regret coming out of reality TV retirement? We asked him all that and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Parvati told you she thought Peter might be setting a trap for you all by saying he got the shield and Bergie didn't, yet you still tried to murder Bergie anyway. Why take that risk?

DAN GHEESLING: So to explain that, I've got to take a step back. Have you ever been punched in the gut and lost your wind? Have you ever got the wind knocked out of you? That was me in the turret from Janelle. In all these games. I've never taken a shot like that. And I was numb. She blew up my game.

So you want some tea? I'll give you some tea. When I was watching that back, I'm like, "This didn't happen. Parvati didn't turn to me and say, 'Dan, this is a bad idea. This is a trap. Do you think he's lying?'" I have no recollection of that. So I texted Parvati and I'll read you what I wrote her. And the reason I wanted to work with Parvati: She's smart, she plays games hard, she's caught people lying about idols, all this stuff.

I [texted] "I don't remember you saying 'I don't think this is a good idea.'" And she says, "Yeah, dum-dum." You have one of the greatest Survivor players knowing exactly what's going on, and you don't listen to her. And for me, it was a huge misstep because I trusted Parvati implicitly and I really respect her as a player. And to not take that advice was a huge mistake.

Be honest: Were you surprised that some dude from The Bachelor ended up being such a gamer?

Yeah! I love it though. He's so shrewd. Someone that takes the time to set all these elaborate traps, that's me! I set the traps and other people fall in them. I never in a million years thought a dude who hands out roses has that capability, and man does he ever. And there's a moment when I'm like, "He got me, and I love it."

That's why you love watching these show, as much as it hurt. I'm a huge Boston Rob fan. When he got got by Russell, I'm like, "Dang, I love Rob." But also, it's a great move. I mean, that's what you want to see. And so I tip the cap to him. It was a heck of a move, and he is really shrewd. And I think now people are like, "Okay, this dude's a player." And he is.

So you get to the roundtable and you need to pick a target to deflect on. Why Phaedra?

I didn't see a path to winning the game with Phaedra in it. Everyone loved her. There was zero suspicion on her. And I got this vision in my head of being at the fire with her at the end, and there's a couple of Bravo people. She turns to them and winks, and I'm done. I couldn't see a way to win with her in the game. And in hindsight, I think it's the exact opposite. I think we both could have been at the end and she's not going to turn on me.

I think Phaedra was really hurt by the fact that I took a shot at her because she really trusted me. And I understand why she would be hurt or maybe upset with me, but it was a huge misstep to think I couldn't have won this game with her.

You're in a corner, you don't have a lot of options, so you take your shot at her, and she comes back at you hard. Tell me what you made of her response to that attack of yours.

Yeah, I was like, man, I really wish I would've paid more attention. When she told me she was a lawyer, she told me she's a reiki healer and a funeral parlor procession person. And she's like, "I'm a lawyer, too." I'm like, "Oh, okay." But I was like, what the heck's a reiki healer? But Phaedra in hand-to-hand combat at that table shredded me up. And I saw Kate jump in and the Bravo girls, when it's time to write the chalk, they all kind of were talking. I'm like, "That's it for me." But I didn't give up until the chalk came out. I fought to the bitter end.

I assume you had to target Phaedra or Parvati, right? Because if you want the folks to believe you're not a Traitor, you have to be right when you shoot your shot at that point.

Yeah, my whole strategy was to be quiet. And so when I do talk, "Okay, it's the quiet kid in class. He's talking, let's follow him, let's do it." And of course I'm going to be right because I'm going to pick a Traitor. "Oh, Dan is a Faithful, he knows what's going on. Let's pay attention. Let's see who wants to vote for next." And then that would've given me a pass to get to the end. I think the strategy was really good. I think the execution was not so good.

Did you know you were going to be a Traitor before the game started?

I had no clue. And I sat down with the producers ahead of time. I'm like, "Please make me a Traitor," and they were like, "Dan, we can't promise you anything. You have to come and be willing to play both games."

I can tell you this: There was a day before the game started, I'm in the hotel and Sharon Vaughn from NBC walks in along with Stephen Lambert, who's the head of Studio Lambert. And they're like, "What do you want to do?" And I'm in pajamas. I didn't expect the big dogs to walk into my hotel room. They’re like, "Would you want to be a Faithful or a Traitor?" And I'm pitching and pitching and pitching them.

And as I've gone throughout reality TV, when you say something that lands, you see the reaction. And I said something that landed with them. And so I said it again to Alan Cumming, because I believe the decision is not made until they see everyone in the house and how things are working. And what I told them, I said, "Hey, do you want to see Michael Jordan come out of retirement and play baseball or basketball?" And that always got laughs and reactions from people. So that's what I said to Alan, and I think that might've pushed the needle. I don't think they went in there saying, "Dan's definitely a Traitor."

I always assumed you would be a Traitor because if you're a producer on this show, there's no way you don't make Dan Gheesling a Traitor.

And I'm telling you wholeheartedly, I didn't know until I got tapped. And I was starting to get mad when he was circling and I'm not getting tapped because I'm like, "All right, here we go. I came out of retirement to sit on the sidelines." But I don't think they made the decision until after we all talked to Alan.

Was Janelle hurt you didn't pick her to be a Traitor?

I think she really wanted to be, but Janelle is Janelle. She doesn't get mad about anything. She'll go in there like a tornado and mix stuff up, be a great competitor. But I don't think she was mad.

Tell me about you two going at each other in last week's episode.

I was really shocked because I knew she was going to come after me, but she dropped a nuke on my game. People had no clue who I was. I think Sandra knew. But these Bravo Housewives, they don't watch. Come on, it was a hundred years ago! No one knew who I was. I'm like, "This is awesome. No one knows who I am." But, man, on the way out, Janelle made sure everyone knows, "He is dangerous." She basically recited your oral history of the Funeral to everyone, to a T at that table. And at that moment people looked at me very differently.

Listen, if she recited that entire oral history, you all would still be there. That's the longest article in the history of Entertainment Weekly, and that is not an exaggeration. So you unretired after a decade away from reality competition TV to play this game. Are you glad you did?

Oh, a thousand percent. This was such a fun, amazing experience. I always wanted to mix it up with some of the best, and man you're talking about Janelle, Parvati, and Sandra. There's moments where I'm like, "Sandra's right here! Parvati and I are Traitors!" I'm a fan of OG Survivor up to Heroes Vs. Villains. And to be able to play this game with them, to me it's like a fever dream. I loved it.

Are you now re-retired?

Yeah, the inbox is definitely more active than it's been, but it took something very special. You've covered a ton of reality TV competition. The Traitors is very different. It's focused on the game. It's not about anything other than the game. And it's produced in a unique way. It looks unique. You haven't seen me in 10 years. I don't think you're ever going to see me again.

What about another Big Brother stint?

Definitely not.

What about something condensed like Reindeer Games?

No.

Why does Johnny Bananas keep coming after you on social media? What is going on there?

I don't know. This was hard because in Big Brother there's people you're rivals with and you don't necessarily like, but I loved everyone in the cast. Everyone's so unique, and I liked Johnny. I don't know because I haven't talked to him, but I think there's an element of kayfabe to it, like wrestling, but also, the game's over. I mean, it's over! So the kayfabe is done, but I don't know. I don't have an answer for you. I haven't talked to him. But I like him. I like everyone that I met there. And that's rare when you go on a reality TV show to like everyone.

Who surprised you with their game the most?

Peter, a thousand percent. In a million years, I never thought someone who hands out roses can take that same hand and set an elaborate trap and then also be tremendous. He understood the strategy and then found an incredible way to execute it while also being a leader amongst the Faithful. They trust him implicitly. He really surprised me, and I love what he's doing.

I'm sure you've analyzed your own game strategy. What was your biggest mistake in terms of either a specific move or your overall approach?

I got a list of about 10 huge mistakes. I would say there's some smaller things that I didn't have a ton of control over where I let the foot off the gas. Losing Deontay early was tough because we were like this. He was such a leader. When he spoke at the table, it was like you could hear nothing else other than him.

Ekin-Su, I was tight with, I didn't have a hand in that murder. Losing her was tough. I was tight with Tamra. So these are all little things that when you're looking to vote, you're like, "Deontay is gone, Ekin-Su's gone, Tamaa's gone." You can control some things, you can't control everything.

Obviously, taking the shot at Bergie, huge mistake. I think if I take the shot at Phaedra a week earlier with Janelle there — who was begging for anything from me — I think she could have rallied some votes. I think the percentage chance of getting out Phaedra is higher. I don't know if the result is any different, but she's definitely getting some votes if Janelle's in there and she could probably flip a few people. It's more interesting, for sure.

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